Vertically stacked collapsible structures

Abstract

Collapsible structures are provided having at least one lower panel, each panel having a foldable frame member having a folded and an unfolded orientation, with a fabric material substantially covering the frame member to form the panel when the frame member is in the unfolded orientation. The fabric assumes the unfolded orientation of its frame member, and each panel further includes a first side, a second side, a bottom side and a top side. The first side of one panel is coupled to the second side of an adjacent panel. The collapsible structure according to the present invention further includes an upper panel having a bottom side coupled to the top side of one of the lower panels. In other embodiments, at least two upper panels are provided, with the upper panels provided above the lower panels. The respective panels can be coupled to each other using stitching and / or detachable connectors, or by crossing the frame members of the panels at adjacent left, right, top or bottom sides.

Description

RELATED CASES[0001]This is a continuation of Ser. No. 09 / 607,036, entitled “Vertically Stacked Collapsible Structures”, filed Jun. 29, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,451, which is in turn a continuation of Ser. No. 09 / 207,183, entitled “Vertically Stacked Collapsible Structures”, filed Dec. 9, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,386, whose disclosures are incorporated by this reference as though fully set forth herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to collapsible structures, and in particular, to collapsible play structures which may be provided in a variety of shapes and sizes. The collapsible play structures may be twisted and folded to reduce the overall size of the play structures to facilitate convenient storage and use.[0004]2. Description of the Prior Art[0005]Two important considerations for all toys or play things targeted for children and adults are convenience and variety. Relating to convenience, a toy must be easily...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]The present invention provides collapsible structures having an increased height to allow structures of greater heights to be provided, thereby increasing the variety of play, entertainment value, and utility for these structures. These collapsible structures can be easily and quickly folded and collapsed into a compact configuration. As a result, the collapsible structures according to the present invention are convenient to use, to move around, and to store, thereby making them ideal for use at home, at the office as an executive toy, and at many other locations.

Problems solved by technology

Larger toys often pose a greater problem with regards to convenience.

The larger toys tend to be bulky, which makes it difficult to move them around the home, and sometimes makes it prohibitive to move them outside the house to other locations.

Bulky toys also take up much storage space.

However, the separate panels of most of these collapsible structures cannot be provided in sizes that are too large, since larger panels have less stability and are more difficult to twist and fold during the collapsing steps.

As a result, the heights of these structures tend to be limited, thereby limiting the applications to which they can be used.

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